Foxstripe: The One You Fear Will Bring You Hope
by Brightcloud
Summary: In the storm, a cat is born... the cat who is destined to bring peace to StormClan. Through danger, thrill, adventure, alliance and betrayal, friendship and romance, will he rid StormClan's territory of the menace who stalks the warriors?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

A flash of white light burst in the night sky, accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder. Rain pounded on the ground and gusts of wind threw the yellow grass back and forth, sometimes ripping the blades from the earth and tossing them about on the wind. Trees swayed under the force of the wind and dripped raindrops from their branch tips to the ground. Clouds boiled across the sky, blotting out the moon and stars.

Grass whipped around a large patch of earth, with grass treaded down on the hard-packed soil to make a floor of sorts, beaten down by many feet. A stone hollow was sunken into one end of the clearing. A stone roof stretched over half of this hollow, and various pieces of prey- mice, other rodents, and a few rabbits- were piled under this roof, sheltered from the rain. Scattered around the perimeter of the clearing were bushes and bramble patches with hollowed-out insides to act as dens. A large, rounded stone sat opposite of the prey hollow, at the other end of the clearing. Its top was flat.

Two young cats sprinted out into the center of the clearing, playing in the rain and giving a yowl every time thunder rocked the plain. They pounced onto each other, screeching in excitement.

"Streampaw! Dawnpaw!" yowled a stern voice. A gray head was poking out of the large rock. Apparently it was hollow. The two young cats sprang away from each other. The third cat continued. "Get out of the rain, and stop screeching, for StarClan's sake!"

Streampaw and Dawnpaw hung their heads and called, "Sorry, Rainstar," retreating to their den.

Another cat, a white she-cat with black-striped legs, dashed across the clearing, herbs in her mouth. She vanished into the nursery den, her long tail whipping out of sight just as Streampaw asked, creeping over to Rainstar, "Where's Iceshadow going?"

Rainstar smiled. "Patchcloud's kits are due! Iceshadow's going to her."

Inside the nursery, a calico she-cat lay on her side, panting, and her eyes wide with fear and anticipation. A pure white she-cat was crouched over her, licking her ears soothingly. A mottled brown tom rushed up to Iceshadow as she squeezed through the entrance to the nursery. His wide amber eyes, surrounded by a black mask, glinted fearfully at the medicine cat.

"I think she's in pain!"

Iceshadow whisked to the calico's side. "Blackmask, you should go," she advised. "Toms are rarely welcome at a she-cat's birthing." When Blackmask hesitated, Iceshadow meowed, "Don't worry, I've got her covered." Blackmask left.

Iceshadow knelt over the calico she-cat. After a while, one kit heaved itself blindly over to the calico's belly.

"Great job, Patchcloud! Just keep going."

A while later, four healthy kits lay snuggled at Patchcloud's stomach. She purred down at them, then suddenly gave a sharp meow. The kits, blind and deaf, could not hear her, but Iceshadow instantly checked her breathing, and informed Patchcloud that one more kit was due.

Moments later, Patchcloud was licking a ginger kit with darker ginger stripes. Iceshadow purred and praised Patchcloud for giving birth to five healthy kits. Patchcloud, exausted, lay her head down to sleep while kits suckled.

Iceshadow purred and prepared to tell Rainstar the good news, but a tiny squeak from a kit stopped her, and she turned around.

One kit was looking at her- the tiny ginger tom. She could tell that he was looking, because his eyes were open. Kits' eyes were not supposed to be open right when they were born.

Iceshadow caught her breath. This kit's eyes were the deepest green she had ever seen- not the standard kit blue, but a miraculous green, even tinged with blue and lighter green. Iceshadow felt as if she were trapped in his innocent gaze.

Suddenly all went black, and everything was quiet. The thunder was silenced, the wind stop whistling through the brambles, and even the soft, quick breaths of the kits were no longer audible.

A pinpoint of light shone in the distance, growing closer and closer. Shining, starry cats padded forward and sat in a semicircle in front of Iceshadow. One of them stepped forward, a magnificent golden tom. He spoke, and his voice was laden with starlight. "The one you fear will bring you hope. Your enemy will bring you alliance. Even in the darkest battle, your most hated opponent will bring the Clan peace."

Iceshadow shivered, feeling the omen's weight on her shoulders. "This is our prophecy," meowed the golden tom seriously. "Bear it well, and believe in it, for if you do not, your home will be destroyed."

The cats stood and walked away, moonlight at their paws.

The thunder, wind, and the kits' breathing returned. The ginger tom turned away, and Iceshadow mulled over the prophecy.

_The one you fear will bring you hope. Your enemy will bring you alliance. Even in the darkest battle, your most hated opponent will bring the Clan peace._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- So sorry I didn't do an author's note last chap, I tried but it chopped off the last part with the prophecy. Anyway, it should work now. Thanks to Winged Ice Fox for reviewing and Harry Potter 101 for favoriting (that a word?) this story.**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm no Erin Hunter. I did not invent, and I do not own, Warriors. Sorry. However, the characters in this story are MINE! ALL MINE! And so is the plot.**

Chapter 1

The little ginger kit was nestled in the nursery, among his brothers and sisters, looking around at them through his open eyes. One was a calico female, looking exactly like her mother. Another was a ginger tom like him, though his ginger was lighter and flecked with brown. Another was a black tom.

This little ginger kit did not know his name, or the names of his brothers and sisters. He barely registered what he saw, but it was wonderful and colorful. He only knew peace and warmth in the world right now, and as the rain went _shhhssss_ through the wind onto the camp, he was happy. The kit fell asleep against his brothers and sisters as they slept on.

Patchcloud woke. At once she saw her four kits sleeping at her side, and her heart swelled with happiness. Just as she thought, _Blackmask, does he know?_ That very cat slipped into the nursery.

"Patchcloud," he breathed as he sat at her side and licked her ear, "they are wonderful! What will you name them?"

"I think I could choose two names, and you could choose two," she purred, looking warmly up at the tom. She looked at her kits. Licking the orange-and-brown flecked tom's head, she stated, "He will be Eaglekit."

"Yes," said Blackmask, pride filling him as his oldest son was named. "Okay, this black kit- his name will be…" he thought for a moment, then the little kit let out a deep, involuntary growl. Blackmask laughed. "This kit will be Thunderkit."

Patchcloud smiled her approval. Then she looked at her third-born, the only female in the litter, the little calico. "She, my daughter, will be called Leafkit." Blackmask purred and licked Leafkit's head.

Then he turned his attention to the youngest kit, the ginger tabby. His eyes were closed now, but Blackmask knew- Iceshadow had told him that this kit was born with open eyes- that if his youngest son were awake, those eyes would be staring at him intently. Blackmask put the thought to the back of his head and tried to think of a name. His mind was blank. But, as if blown there by the wind- or the breath of StarClan- a name came to him-_ Fox._

"Foxkit."

Patchcloud looked at her mate. He was not speaking in the warm, happy voice that they had been speaking in before. But instead, as the name _Foxkit_ left his mouth and floated on the soft breeze carrying into the nursery, he spoke in a voice that was filled with wonder and amazement.

He shook his head and said, "Foxkit. This will be our son's name."

Patchcloud quietly nodded her assent.

"Rainstar, may I come in?"

Rainstar looked up from the vole she had been eating. The gray she-cat stood up, pushed the vole away with her hind foot, and said, "Yes, come in."

Iceshadow stepped into Rainstar's den a moment later. Rainstar smiled and sat down. Iceshadow had been her best friend from kithood, and although they both had very respected and busy positions in the Clan now, their friendship never wavered.

Iceshadow smiled back. But her face fell serious as she prepared to tell of the prophecy.

"Rainstar, I just recently received a sign from StarClan…" she saw Rainstar sit up straighter. "…from the eyes of a kit. Patchcloud had her kits just now, and although they are all alive and healthy, this one ginger tabby was born with his eyes open. And I could see StarClan inside…"

Rainstar was staring at Iceshadow intently. "What did they say?"

"Well, Lionstar came up," whispered Iceshadow.

Rainstar was silent, her eyes were sad. Lionstar had been simply the greatest leader Iceshadow had ever known. He had been leader since before she was born, and in her opinion no one but Rainstar could have done better than him. His death had been sudden and unexpected, although he had been getting old. For many Clan cats, his death was still painful.

"And what did he say?" asked Rainstar quietly.

"He gave me a prophecy. He said, 'The one you fear will bring you hope. Your enemy will bring you alliance. Even in the darkest battle, your most hated opponent will bring the Clan peace.'"

Rainstar frowned in thought. "Did he say who this cat was?"

"No, although judging by the fact that I saw StarClan through this kit's eyes, it is probably him."

"But he's only a kit. StarClan would have chosen an older cat, don't you think?"

"They are unpredictable, StarClan."

"Perhaps… I'll keep it mind, but I'm not sure we should take action until we see actual signs that this prophecy is true."

Iceshadow nodded and backed out of Rainstar's den. Her mind was whirling with the prophecy, and questions about who it could be. As she approached the smaller, grassy clearing where she worked, her apprentice, Sunpaw, rushed up to her. Sunpaw had been apprenticed only a sun ago, and she was a fast leaner in herbs, although she still needed some reminding now and then about the warrior code.

The tiny tortoiseshell blurted, "What's poppy seed again?"

Iceshadow sighed, but not because of her apprentice. _Wait for the next sign, _she told herself. _In the meantime, get back to your life._

**A/N- Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Review! And don't worry, next chap will probably be in Foxkit's POV.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- ZOMG! AN UPDATE! It's a whole new chapter, wow! Sorry this took so long to get up, I had horrible writer's block and I've been really busy. My teachers are piling on the homework now that they realize school's nearly over x.x**

**Chapter 3**

Five kits tumbled out of the nursery, blinking their huge eyes in the sunhigh light and tripping over their own paws.

Instantly, Eaglekit bellowed, "Race you to the Stormstone!" He launched himself over the ground towards the huge rock at the end of camp. Foxkit followed.

He was going so fast that he could feel the wind in his fur whistling, and his feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. He felt so free and joyful, he let out a yowl and leaped ahead of Eaglekit. He slowed to avoid bashing into the stone, and skidded to a stop, putting a paw on the smooth, cool rock. "Beat ya!" he called gleefully.

Eaglekit, who never liked being beaten at anything, scowled and marched off. "I didn't want to play with you anyway. You're too weird. _I _wasn't born with my eyes open, like _you._"

Foxkit's happy mood fell, and his whiskers seemed to droop. Eaglekit could be a bully sometimes. But now he had no one to play with. Leafkit and Thunderkit were tussling together, and Eaglekit was trying to convince Patchcloud to let him eat the raw vole, and not have her chew it up for him beforehand.

"Buck up," said a cheerful voice from behind him. "He's just jealous."

Foxkit whirled around to see a smallish gray, brown, and gold kit behind him. His eyes were light green.

"Who- who are you?" Foxkit stammered.

"I'm Falconkit," the kit chirped. "Who are you? You look awful glum."

"Foxkit," said Foxkit, feeling his whiskers rise up again. He smiled and said, "Just my brother teasing me. He went away and now I have no one to play with."

"That's what I'm here for," mewed Falconkit. "Wanna play?"

"Sure!" meowed Foxkit. "What that?" He pointed his nose towards a black creature crawling in the dirt.

"I dunno, let's stalk it!" whispered Falconkit eagerly. "Shh, don't scare it away." He started creeping after the thing.

Happily, Foxkit mirrored him, crouching in the dust. Today he had made his first new friend.

Three moons passed, and the kits were almost ready to become apprentices. At four moons, they were not quite set but they were getting there. Their fur was thickening so they could fluff up and keep warm by themselves, and their vision was sharper. Their scent of smell was more advanced, and they knew the different scents of their friends and mothers and fathers. They were eating meat by themselves now, not needing their mothers to grind it up for them. Their mothers were quite agitated when their children practiced sheathing and unsheathing their claws late at night when they lay by their mothers. Patchcloud complained to another queen that sleeping with Thunderkit was like "trying to nestle in with a squirming hedgehog."

Foxkit and Falconkit were becoming fast friends. They played together every day and had adventures, like exploring around the Stormstone or sneaking into the warriors' den, where they were shooed out by one of the senior warriors.

Falconkit was the spitting image of his mother, Spottedfern, one of the senior queens. His only sibling was a pretty, longhaired black she-cat who Foxkit didn't know, although when he asked about her, Falconkit said that she was nice and smart, and that his father, Slashclaw, who was also black, liked her very much. Falconkit was often jealous of the close bond between Slashclaw and his daughter. But Foxkit would always distract him by yowling, "Race you to the pine tree!" or "How many mouse tails can _you _eat in a minute?"

One sun, Falconkit screamed a battle cry and leaped into Foxkit, bowling him into the fresh-kill pile. Foxkit gave a startled yelp as he landed among voles and sparrows. He emerged, laughing, with a vole's tail draped over his back and a rabbit's leg across his head. He shook these off and screeched at Falconkit, "Oh you are gonna _pay _for that!"

But he stopped himself just as he was about to jump, because Falconkit was staring at something that was behind Foxkit, with a questioning look on his face. Foxkit looked behind him.

"What's that?" he blurted, staring at the long coil of mottled brown. He stroked it with the pad of his paw; it was smooth and cool, scaly and slick. Falconkit was equally dumbfounded.

"I dunno," he said, confused. "I've never seen it before."

"That's an adder," said a voice from behind them. The two kits whirled around to see a dark gray warrior looking down at them. Foxkit recognized Stormypelt, one of the senior warriors.

"A what?" echoed Falconkit with a frown.

"An adder," repeated Stormypelt. "It's a snake, one of our enemies. They bite, and their fangs are poisonous. The venom can kill kits like you instantly. However, they can be hunted, if you bite them right at the neck. Dawnpaw brought this one in this morning. They're edible, but not very tasty. I suggest you don't eat it."

He selected a vole from the pile and went off to eat with Blackmask, Foxkit's father. As soon as he was gone, Falconkit turned to Foxkit, a devious grin on his face.

"_Dare_ you," he cackled.

Foxkit grinned back. "I'll show you! I'll eat the whole thing."

Falconkit stepped back. "Get on with it, then."

Foxkit ran forward and sank his teeth into the snake's flesh. A bitter taste met his tongue, but he was determined to keep eating. He took bite after bite and reflected that it was a good thing he was hungry.

After a while, Foxkit stepped back. Only the snake's head lay in the fresh-kill pile now. Falconkit looked very impressed.

"Wow!" he said. "Yeah, Foxkit!

That night, Foxkit got a very unpleasant stomachache. He spent most of the night throwing up behind the nursery.

As his stomach churned and he opened his mouth to vomit once more, he vowed that he would never, ever eat snake again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I had nothing in my head for AGES AND AGES until yesterday, when I finally got into the mood to write. Being an author is harder than I thought.**

**I'm REALLY sorry for the wait, guys. Thanks for the reviews.**

Chapter 4

A few days after the adder incident, Foxkit and Falconkit tussled in front of the nursery. They were nearly ready to become apprentices, and already they were practicing fighting.

They stopped when a very young apprentice walked up to them. She was a pretty golden tortoiseshell with sparkling green eyes.

"Hi, I'm Sunpaw," she chirped. "I'm the medicine cat apprentice. Who are you?"

Foxkit and Falconkit, eager for a new friend, hastily said their names.

"Good to meet you!" she said. "Hey, a couple moons ago, Iceshadow got a really cool prophecy. So far nothing's happened, but keep an eye out."

The two kits nodded.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Stormstone for a Clan meeting."

"Can we catch prey?" muttered Falconkit to Foxkit.

"Dunno. But let's watch from here."

"Bye," hissed Sunpaw, and trotted off for the meeting.

The meeting was boring, about who would attend the Gathering.

That night, Foxkit watched the cats, Rainstar at the lead, troop off for the Gathering. He wondered where they went to gather. He walked over and sat at the camp entrance. He stared out into the forest and longed to explore it, not be cooped up in the camp all day. He sighed.

All of a sudden, he saw a pair of amber eyes gleam from the shadows. He turned quickly towards the eyes, his heart thumping. Something stepped from the murky darkness.

It was probably the most ugly thing Foxkit had ever seen. Its nose and mouth tapered forward in a long snout. Its fur was a flaming red and its amber eyes glinted hungrily like chips of golden ice.

Then it spoke, and Foxkit could understand.

He had not known of any animals other than prey, but he had gathered that they all spoke their own language. The cat language was unique to only cats, the ravens spoke their own language too, and the rabbits spoke to each other in only the way a rabbit can. As far as Foxkit knew, he should not be able to understand this creature.

"Little cat," hissed the creature in a very strange accent. "No mother to protect it. What an easy meal." And it started creeping forward.

"P-p-please don't eat me," stuttered Foxkit without thinking, stumbling backwards.

The creature stopped dead and pricked its ears, bewildered. It cocked its head and studied Foxkit.

"Did cat just speak?" it mused to itself. "Did prey just speak to predator, the fox?"

At that moment Patchcloud rushed up.

"Foxkit!" she cried. Foxkit lost sight of the strange creature as Patchcloud curled her body around him protectively. Foxkit heard her claws unsheathe and hiss ferociously at the red creature. It gave a low growl. Patchcloud snarled and whipped out her paw to try and slash at the thing. Foxkit caught a glimpse of the creature turning and fleeing into the brush. Foxkit felt Patchcloud's bristling fur relax and her claws unsheathe before she whirled on him and started grooming him fiercely. "It's all right," she murmured. "It's all right now."

"I'm fine, Mother," muttered Foxkit. "But… but it talked to me, Mother."

Patchcloud stopped licking. "What?" she meowed. "It _spoke_ to you?"

Foxkit nodded his little ginger head.

Patchcloud looked troubled, but shook it off. "You've just been imagining, Foxkit," she said while herding him back to the nursery. "It must have been an awful shock seeing a fox, young as you are."

But as Foxkit sat in the warm, dry nursery, eating pre-chewed vole, he knew for quite certain that he had heard the fox (that's what Patchcloud had called it) really speak to him.

"What happened?"

Foxkit looked up into the face of Falconkit. Relieved that it was his best friend and not anyone else, he told him in an undertone what had happened.

When he was through, Falconkit said, "Wow," and looked thoughtful.

"You do believe me, right?" whispered Foxkit desperately.

"Of course, mouse-brain! Even though it's never happened before. It's very strange. And _you_ spoke to it, and _it_ understood you?"

Foxkit was about to nod when Eaglekit popped from the shadows.

"I couldn't help overhearing," he growled, quite smugly.

_I'll bet you could've, _thought Foxkit.

Eaglekit sneered into his face. "Having dreams, little brother?"

"I'm not you're little brother!" hissed Foxkit through clenched teeth. "We're the same age, mouse-brain!"

"Go away, Eaglekit," meowed Falconkit scornfully. Eaglekit ignored him.

"Speaking to creatures, Foxkit? You're pretty weird for a kit. We might only want nice, normal kits in my den. We'll have to throw you out and sleep in the rain! Maybe even you'll get kicked out of the Clan because you're so _bizarre!_"

Foxkit growled, sinking his claws into the moss. That was the last straw! He was about to leap at Eaglekit, but Falconkit was faster.

"Shut up!" he snarled, pushing his muzzle close to Eaglekit's face. "Foxkit is as nice and normal as you are _spiteful!_" He raised his voice to a high pitch as if imitating Eaglekit. "'We only want normal kits in _my _den!' Just get a life, Eaglekit, and stop taunting others just because they're gifted! You're probably just _jealous!"_

Startled, Eaglekit took a step back. He stammered, "Am- am not! He's- he's just w…" but Falconkit gave him a look so icy that he fell silent and scurried off.

Falconkit gave a satisfied snort and sat down among the moss. Foxkit came up and rubbed his head in thanks against his friend's shoulder.

"Thanks for that."

"He needed someone to take care of him once and for all."

"Do you really think I'm gifted?"

"Of course. You're my best friend."


	5. Sorry

**Sorry**

I'm not continuing this story for now. I'm really sorry but I've lost interest in it and it doesn't hold the old wonder that it used to. I apologize to everyone who snapped because I haven't updated in a long time. Things are hard for me right now and I can't devote myself to this entirely. I'm going to post a new story when I'm finished with it; and I will be continuing with my Snowkit story since everyone seemed to like it. But Foxstripe is no go for a while. Maybe I'll get back into it one day; but that day is not now.

I'm sorry. May StarClan light your path.


End file.
